


The Friendship between Merlin Emrys and Arthur Pendragon

by auspicious_dragon



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28267560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auspicious_dragon/pseuds/auspicious_dragon
Summary: Arthur falls in love with Vivian and abandons his best friend Merlin.  What happens afterwards.
Relationships: Arthur Pendragon/Vivian (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merthur
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	The Friendship between Merlin Emrys and Arthur Pendragon

Merlin Emrys wasn’t looking forward to Gwen’s and Lance’s wedding. He was, of course, happy for the couple and felt honored that Lance had asked him to be a groomsman. But he didn’t look forward to seeing Arthur Pendragon, one of Lance’s other groomsmen. 

Merlin and Arthur had been best friends for several years. Assigned by chance to adjacent rooms in the same residence hall, they met during their freshman year in college and struck up a friendship. After freshman year they moved with Lance into a three-bedroom apartment off campus, where they lived through their senior year. The two young men hung out together almost every day during the school year and even traveled together to Florida and California during their winter and spring breaks. During the summers they would often visit and stay with each other’s families for weeks at a time. 

It was during their senior year that Merlin’s and Arthur’s relationship came to an abrupt end. That was when Arthur started dating Vivian. For some reason that Merlin never could figure out, Vivian took an instant dislike to him. Perhaps she sensed that Merlin was in love with Arthur. Whatever the reason, Vivian refused to spend any time with Merlin. 

Arthur, being quite infatuated with Vivian, started to distance from Merlin. Although he continued to act in a friendly manner toward Merlin, Arthur declined all of Merlin’s invitations to hang out, choosing instead to spend all his free time with Vivian. The last straw was when Arthur didn’t invite Merlin to the restaurant where they were celebrating Arthur’s birthday. Merlin was terribly hurt. He then came to the conclusion that Arthur didn’t value their friendship. So at that point Merlin turned away from Arthur and never looked back. His anger towards Arthur helped him to tamp down his love and longing for his best friend.

Merlin, Arthur, and Lance had graduated a little over a year ago. Merlin moved out of their apartment without saying a word to Arthur, not that Arthur noticed, and the two men hadn’t been in contact since. Merlin and Lance had remained good friends and saw each other regularly. Merlin had met Lance’s adorable fiancée, Gwen, and Lance had met Merlin’s good friend, Mordred. The four of them would go out occasionally to restaurants or to gay clubs where they could all dance together.

After graduating from college, Merlin landed a job as a graphic artist at a small advertising company. That’s where he met Mordred, who was a copywriter. Merlin and Mordred became good friends after collaborating on an advertising campaign. When the client was pleased with what they produced, they went out for drinks to celebrate. Soon they started going to movies and concerts together. After they came out to each other, they started going to gay clubs on weekends. 

Although Merlin thought Mordred was attractive and had a great personality, he was reluctant to get into a romantic relationship with a co-worker. The two men had talked about this openly and honestly and had decided they were better off as just friends, at least for the time being. They joked about how they would reconsider if either of them were to leave the advertising agency. 

Over time Merlin and Mordred became very close. Each man knew practically everything about the other man’s life. They were fiercely loyal to each other and had each other’s backs, personally and professionally. They continued to collaborate on advertising campaigns, and the agency clients were consistently pleased with what they created. Consequently Merlin and Mordred both received stellar performance reviews as well as generous bonuses at the end of the year. 

Merlin had told Mordred about his friendship with Arthur and how and why it ended. Mordred responded with empathy, telling Merlin that he understood how much Arthur’s behavior must have hurt him. He also said that Merlin was better off without Arthur, observing that a person who would act like Arthur did was not a true friend. When Merlin told Mordred that Arthur was one of Lance’s other groomsmen and that he would have to see him at the upcoming wedding events, Mordred promised to be there for Merlin in whatever way Merlin needed. Merlin expressed his gratitude for Mordred’s support.

*****

The rehearsal dinner was the night before the wedding. Lance and Gwen told people to dress casually. Merlin wore what he would typically wear for a night of clubbing—black skinny jeans and an azure-colored button-down shirt that brought out the color of his beautiful blue eyes. He threw on a cream-colored sport coat to complete the ensemble. He looked stunning with his dark curly hair and tall, thin physique. 

Mordred dressed similarly, also wearing black skinny jeans, but with a pink button-down shirt and a black blazer. Mordred was an attractive man, a few inches shorter than Merlin, with curly chestnut-colored hair a little lighter than Merlin’s, but with equally striking bright blue eyes. When Merlin picked Mordred up, the two men laughed at how similarly they were dressed and commented on how they looked like a stereotypical gay couple. 

When they arrived at the venue, Merlin spied Arthur right away. The handsome blonde man was talking to Lance. Merlin pointed him out to Mordred and whispered, “Just try to stay close and run interference if you see me having to talk to the prick.” Mordred nodded and said, “OK, whatever you need me to do.”

While Arthur and Lance were engaged in conversation, Merlin approached Gwen. She greeted him with a kiss. Merlin asked when the rehearsal would begin. Gwen said that they were just waiting for one of the bridesmaids to arrive, after which the officiant would announce the start of the rehearsal.

Merlin couldn’t avoid Arthur indefinitely. When Arthur finished talking to Lance, he saw Merlin and started walking towards him. Merlin turned and started to walk away, but Arthur called to him, “Hey, Merlin, wait up.” 

Merlin stopped and looked to see where Mordred was. Luckily not too far away. Mordred came right over and stood next to Merlin, who had turned around to face Arthur. 

Arthur walked up to the two men. “Merlin, it’s been ages!” he exclaimed. “How’ve you been?”

Merlin looked directly at Arthur and said coldly, “Hello, Arthur. I have nothing to say to you.”

Merlin saw the hurt, confused look on Arthur’s face. “What, why,” he stammered. 

Mordred chimed in then. Glaring at Arthur, he said, “If you don’t know, then you’re even more clueless than Merlin said you were. Come on, Merlin, let’s get away from the asshole.”

Arthur stood there stunned as Merlin and Mordred walked away together.

*****

It was awkward for both Arthur and Merlin after the rehearsal started because they had to stand next to each other during the ceremony. When the rehearsal was over, Arthur tried to talk to Merlin again, but Merlin ignored him and walked to where Mordred was waiting for him. 

It was also awkward at the rehearsal dinner because the groomsmen and bridesmaids and their guests were all assigned to sit at the same large round table. Merlin noted where Arthur sat and chose a seat far away from Arthur but not directly across the table from him. A few times throughout the dinner Merlin caught Arthur frowning at him, but he quickly looked away. Merlin and Mordred conversed easily with the people sitting right next to them, completely ignoring Arthur and his male guest. Merlin was surprised to see that Arthur was not with Vivian and was with a male friend, but he had no interest in finding out who he was. Merlin couldn’t care less. 

After dinner the toasts began. Lance’s best man and Gwen’s maid of honor started off the toasts by telling humorous and touching anecdotes about the couple. Family and friends followed with their own toasts. Merlin stood up and told a funny story about how Lance handled a male admirer when Lance and Gwen had accompanied Merlin and Mordred to a gay club. He concluded by saying that Lance must really love Gwen because he turned down the most handsome guy Merlin had ever seen. That elicited big laughs from all present, except for Arthur who continued to frown at Merlin all evening. Mordred kissed Merlin on the cheek when he sat down after his toast. Arthur glared at Mordred.

Merlin was able to avoid Arthur for the rest of the evening. He left with Mordred as soon as the toasts were over. On their way home Merlin thanked Mordred again for helping him to get away from Arthur. 

“I really appreciate that you stood by me and said what you said,” Merlin told Mordred.

“No big deal,” Mordred replied. “I was shocked that he seemed to have no idea why you might be angry with him, after what you told me.”

“Yeah,” Merlin agreed. “You used the right word for him—clueless.”

*****

The wedding was beautiful and perfect. It all went off without a hitch. Merlin and Mordred had a wonderful time at the reception, which turned out to be a fantastic party. Lance and Gwen hired a terrific band that played great songs from every decade, pleasing old and young alike. Merlin and Mordred danced the whole night, sometimes just the two of them, and other times with Lance and Gwen, just like they did at the gay clubs.

There was just one moment of tension that evening. At one point in the evening Mordred had excused himself to find the men’s room. Arthur chose that moment to approach Merlin, saying, “Come on, Merlin, why are you so mad at me? We used to be best friends.”

Merlin looked him in the eye and said in a chilly tone, “That’s right, Arthur. Used to be. Not anymore.” He then walked away in search of Mordred.

*****

Arthur felt horrible after the wedding. He was devastated by how Merlin acted towards him. Seeing Merlin again brought back memories of all the good times they had together. How much they enjoyed hanging out together at school, how much laughter and fun they shared. Arthur thought of the great vacations they took over winter and spring breaks—biking, swimming, and kayaking in Florida and California. He recalled Merlin’s smile which would light up a room. He wished that Merlin had smiled at him last night and not looked at him with that cold, angry stare.

When Arthur saw Merlin at the rehearsal dinner, he was struck by how handsome Merlin was now. He was still thin, but he looked a little more filled out and stronger than when they were in school together. He also looked more mature. Arthur noticed how the clothes Merlin wore that night accentuated his good looks. Merlin sure knew how to dress to impress. Arthur noticed how people looked at Merlin when he gave his toast at the rehearsal dinner. He also noticed how the guy in the pink shirt and black blazer looked at Merlin.

Arthur felt resentment and jealousy towards that guy. The man had called him clueless and an asshole. That was sufficient reason to hate him. Arthur wondered if he was Merlin’s partner. After all he did kiss Merlin’s cheek. And he adopted a protective stance when he stood next to Merlin and confronted Arthur. Merlin had obviously told the guy all about Arthur and about their friendship. That bothered Arthur a lot. What had Merlin said that made the guy so hostile towards a complete stranger?

The day after the wedding Arthur called Lance. He told him about how Merlin and Mordred had reacted to him and asked Lance if he knew anything. Lance was surprised that Arthur seemed to have no idea why Merlin was angry at him.

“You really don’t know?” Lance asked. “How could you not know?”

“Enlighten me,” Arthur replied.

Lance sighed. “Arthur, do you not realize that when you started dating Vivian, you completely abandoned Merlin? It was like you weren’t even his friend anymore.” 

“I was in love with Vivian,” Arthur said, defending himself. “I thought Merlin would understand that. Of course Vivian and I spent all our free time together.”

“But Arthur,” Lance tried to explain, “you and Merlin were best friends and you just froze him out. Probably because Vivian didn’t like him. You weren’t loyal to Merlin at all. That’s why he was so hurt and angry. You acted like his friendship meant nothing to you. The worst thing you did was not invite him to your birthday party, probably because Vivian didn’t want you to.”

“Oh, shit,” Arthur said, the truth finally dawning on him. “I really hurt him, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” Lance agreed. “But I don’t know how you’re gonna fix it or even if you can.” 

“I have to fix it,” Arthur replied with determination. “I’ve got to make it up to him.” He then asked Lance for Merlin’s current phone number and email address.

Lance gave that information to him and said, “Well, good luck trying. It’s not gonna be easy.”

Before ending the call, Arthur asked about the guy who was with Merlin at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. “Oh, that’s Mordred,” Lance said. 

“Is he Merlin’s partner?” Arthur asked.

“I don’t think so,” Lance replied. “Merlin always introduces Mordred as his friend. I think they’re really close friends and not romantically involved. I think Merlin would have told me if they were. They met at work. I know they don’t live together.” 

For some reason Arthur felt relieved. He didn’t like the idea of Merlin and Mordred being partners.

*****

After talking to Lance, Arthur spent a lot of time reflecting on the last few months of his senior year. Lance was right—he had abandoned Merlin for Vivian. And yes, she didn’t like Merlin, so he would never include Merlin when Vivian was there. And she was there all the time. So that meant he had no time for Merlin. Arthur felt intensely guilty when he finally admitted to himself that he had been a really lousy friend to Merlin.

What made it worse was that Vivian hadn’t been worth it. She turned out to be demanding, jealous, and possessive. In hindsight Arthur realized that Vivian had been jealous of Merlin, not liking the closeness between the two friends. He began to see how Vivian had done whatever she could to separate Arthur from Merlin. But Arthur also recognized that he had gone along with it, he had given up Merlin to please Vivian, so he was equally if not more to blame. 

Two months after graduating from college, Arthur broke up with Vivian, having grown tired of her demands and attempts to control him. He had been on a few casual dates since then, some with men and others with women, but he hadn’t met anyone he was particularly interested in. Besides, he was reluctant to get into another relationship after his horrible experience with Vivian.

Since seeing Merlin at the rehearsal dinner, Arthur couldn’t stop thinking about him. Had Merlin always been so handsome? Why had Arthur never noticed before how attractive Merlin was? He recalled how compatible they had been, and he wondered how he could get Merlin back. That’s how he thought of it. “I have to get him back,” he told himself. He decided to start with email. He quickly typed and sent a message to Merlin’s email address.

When Merlin saw a message from Arthur in his inbox, he was tempted to delete it without reading it. But curiosity got the better of him and he opened it. He had mixed feelings when he read what Arthur had to say.

Dear Merlin,  
I screwed up and hurt you during our last year in college, and I’m truly sorry. I was a lousy friend to you and you deserved better. I realize now how badly I treated you. I hope you can forgive me. Would you be willing to meet me for a drink to talk? I miss you and hope that we can be friends again. I understand that you’re angry, but please give me a chance.  
Arthur

Initially Merlin was tempted to forgive Arthur, but something made him hesitate. He wanted to understand his reluctance to let Arthur back into his life. As he reflected on what might underlie the reluctance, he realized that he did not want to be that vulnerable again. He understood that back in college he had been in love with his best friend, so when Arthur abandoned him the pain was unbearable. He didn’t want to go through that again. This influenced his email response to Arthur’s message.

Hello Arthur,  
I received your apology for hurting me last year. But to be honest, I don’t want to risk being hurt by you again. It’s easy to say you’re sorry in an email message. But that’s no guarantee that you won’t do the same thing again in the future. I’m also struck by the fact that after we graduated more than a year ago you never tried to contact me. It was like I no longer existed and our friendship meant nothing to you. Then you happened to see me at the rehearsal dinner and all of a sudden you wanted us to be friends again. So the bottom line is I’m not open to meeting you for a drink.  
Merlin

Arthur was devastated when he received Merlin’s reply. He had been so confident that Merlin would forgive him and agree to renew their friendship. He called Lance for support and advice.

“I told you it wouldn’t be easy,” Lance said. “Merlin was terribly hurt, and it’ll obviously take more than an email to regain his trust.”

“You got any suggestions, Lance?” Arthur asked.

“Not really,” Lance replied. “When Gwen and I fight, I buy her flowers, but that won’t work with Merlin. I don’t know what you can do to change his mind.”

After talking to Lance, Arthur thought long and hard about what he could do to get Merlin back. Then an idea popped into his head. He decided to create a record of their friendship with words and pictures. He bought a beautiful black leather scrapbook for the project. He made prints of every digital photo he had of Merlin. Some photos were just of Merlin, others were selfies of Merlin and Arthur in college or on their vacations, yet other photos were of Merlin and Arthur with other friends. Arthur also contacted all their mutual friends and asked them to send him any photos they had of him and Merlin together. Lance sent him some photos he had taken at their college apartment, as well as photos of Merlin and Arthur standing next to each other at the rehearsal dinner and at the wedding. Other friends had group shots that included Arthur and Merlin.

Soon Arthur had a pretty large collection of photographs. He started assembling them into a story of Arthur’s and Merlin’s friendship. He did his best to make it poignant and humorous at the same time. On the cover of the scrapbook Arthur inserted a photo of him and Merlin standing next to each other and grinning widely, under the title “The Friendship of Merlin Emrys and Arthur Pendragon.” 

Arthur organized the scrapbook chronologically by year, starting with their freshman year when they met. He added words next to or beneath each photo. Some of the captions were touching, while others were funny. Next to a picture of Merlin looking groggy and with his hair sticking up, Arthur added the words, “Merlin is obviously not a morning person.” Underneath a photo of the two of them wearing bicycle helmets, he added the words, “Best friends biking in Florida on winter break.” Arthur included between ten and fifteen photographs for each year of college, all with captions. 

When he got to the time when Arthur started seeing Vivian, he wrote, “Arthur screws up and loses his best friend.” He added an unflattering picture of Vivian and drew a red circle around it and a red line through the circle and the picture. Next to the picture of Vivian, Arthur wrote, “Arthur falls under the spell of a wicked witch.” 

Arthur devoted one page for the year after they graduated. On that page he inserted a picture of himself looking goofy and added the words, “Arthur is a big idiot and doesn’t even contact the best friend he was stupid enough to lose.”

On the following page Arthur inserted the photos of him and Merlin standing next to each other as groomsmen at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. Underneath those photos he added the words, “Arthur desperately wants to get his best friend back.”

The last words Arthur added to the scrapbook were “Merlin, please forgive me so that we can fill up the remaining pages in this scrapbook with happy memories. I love you and I miss you. Arthur”

It took Arthur almost three weeks to complete the project. During that time Merlin was almost always on his mind. Looking through all those photographs and remembering all the happy times they had together, Arthur realized the value of the friendship he had so readily abandoned. He resolved never to make that mistake again if Merlin were to give him another chance. Arthur also recognized the depth of his feelings for Merlin and knew how desperate he was to get Merlin back in his life. He started to consider whether he might be in love with Merlin. He had certainly been obsessing about his former friend ever since the rehearsal dinner.

After putting so much time and effort into the scrapbook, Arthur didn’t trust the mail service with it, so he called Lance to find out where Merlin worked. He put the scrapbook in a huge manila envelope, wrote Merlin’s name on the envelope, and dropped it off with the receptionist at the advertising agency where Merlin worked.

Merlin was working on a design when the receptionist called him and said there was a package waiting for him. He picked up the package and brought it back to his desk. When he pulled the scrapbook out of the envelope and saw the front cover, his eyes widened and he exclaimed, “Oh!”

Merlin started to page through the scrapbook. He couldn’t believe that Arthur had created this beautiful present for him—that he had collected and printed all the photos, arranged them chronologically, typed up all the captions, and produced such a poignant photographic memoir of their friendship. Merlin teared up as he paged through the scrapbook, looking at all the photos, reading the captions, and occasionally emitting a chuckle. When he got to the page with the picture of Vivian circled in red with a red line through it, he burst out laughing. He cried when he saw the caption “Arthur desperately wants to get his best friend back.” And his heart melted when he read the last words Arthur wrote in the scrapbook: “Merlin, please forgive me so that we can fill up the remaining pages in this scrapbook with happy memories. I love you and I miss you. Arthur” How could he refuse to forgive the man who had poured his heart and soul into such an amazing gift?

Merlin emailed Arthur thanking him for the scrapbook and asking if he was free that evening to meet at Merlin’s apartment. Arthur replied promptly saying that would work for him.

Arthur was nervous when he arrived at Merlin’s apartment. When Merlin answered the door, the first thing Arthur said was, “I am so sorry for everything.” Merlin smiled at Arthur and threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly. “I forgive you, you big clotpole,” he said. 

They sat down on Merlin’s sofa for a long overdue conversation. Merlin told Arthur how much he loved the scrapbook and how touched he was that Arthur had created it. They reminisced about fun times that they had shared in college. They also caught up on each other’s lives, talking about their jobs, friends, families, hobbies, and interests. 

Eventually Arthur brought the conversation back to the rift between them. He said, “I hope you know how terrible I feel about how I treated you. I realize now how much I hurt you, and I’m sorry.”

Merlin decided in that moment to be completely truthful with Arthur. “Yes, I think it hurt so much because I was in love with you.”

Arthur’s jaw dropped. “You were in love with me?”

“Yes, I had the biggest crush on you since freshman year,” Merlin said. “I was much too scared to tell you. I thought you would stop being my friend if you knew.”

“I don’t think I would have,” Arthur said. “I wish you had told me.”

“I wasn’t brave enough until just now,” Merlin admitted.

“How do you feel towards me now?” Arthur asked.

“Well, I had to get over my crush,” Merlin explained. “after you fell for Vivian and stopped hanging out with me. Being angry and thinking you were an asshole helped.”

“I wish you were still in love with me,” Arthur said in a quiet voice.

Merlin was flabbergasted. “Why for God’s sake?”

“Because I have strong feelings for you, Merlin,” Arthur disclosed. “I’ve been obsessing about you since the rehearsal dinner. I was desperate to have you back in my life. I was so jealous of that guy you were with at the wedding, I forget his name.”

“Mordred,” Merlin supplied.

“Yeah, Mordred,” Arthur said. “I was worried that he was your partner. When Lance told me that he didn’t think you and Mordred were romantically involved, I felt relieved. That’s when I realized I wanted you for myself.”

“You’re blowing my mind, Arthur,” Merlin said, shaking his head. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll go out with me,” Arthur replied. “I know it will take you a while to trust me again, but will you give me a chance? I want to prove to you how I feel. Can we start dating?”

Merlin took a moment to reflect before answering, “I think I can be persuaded.”

Before Arthur left for home that evening, he and Merlin hugged each other tightly and kissed for the first time. Arthur told Merlin he would pick him up on Friday evening for their first date and he would plan the entire evening. After Arthur left, Merlin wondered what Mordred would have to say about his reconciliation with Arthur. “I guess I’ll find out tomorrow when I tell him,” he told himself. Then he opened the scrapbook again and paged through it. And he broke into a huge smile as he imagined how he and Arthur would fill the remaining empty pages.


End file.
